SEARCHING THE CENSUS  - HINTS & TIPS

from the July 2006 LostCousins newsletter

No matter how accurate the transcription, there are always going to be people who can't be found on the census because their surname, age, or birthplace is incorrectly shown.

In this article we're going to teach you some of the tricks and tips that our 'buddies' use to find those elusive relatives!

All of these tips relate to the England & Wales censuses, but some may also work with other censuses.  

TIP #1 - Don't be too specific

When you're searching the census, don't enter everything you know about the person you're looking, because if even one item is wrongly shown on the census your relative won't be found.

Instead, enter the minimum of information - perhaps just the name - and see what results you get. If you get thousands of results, then that's the time to be more specific, but often you won't.

TIP #2 - Allow for errors

Census information is often inaccurate or downright wrong - so you need to allow for this in your searching.

This means allowing a range of birth years - 2 years on either side is usually sufficient - and perhaps specifying a county as the birthplace rather than a town or village.

If the surname is unusual, or is one that has alternative spellings, the use of wildcards often helps. Thus you might search for Lamb* rather than Lamb or Lambe.

Note that at FamilySearch common alternatives are automatically allowed for unless you tick the 'Use exact spelling' box, something we don't recommend doing, as the results are hard to predict.

TIP #3 - Search by forename only

Incorrect surnames are perhaps the biggest problem - so wouldn't it be great if you could search by forename alone? Searching for one forename would probably give too many results, but suppose you could search for two?

At 1837online you can search for two people in the same household at the same time. This doesn't mean that you have to omit the surname, but it certainly makes it more practical to do so. You can search both the 1861 and 1891 Censuses this way.

At FamilySearch you can search the 1881 Census for two people in the same household so long as one of them is the head of household. Again, it's a great way to produce a shortlist of households that might include your relatives.

TIP #4 - Search by address

Often you'll know where a family was living, perhaps from birth certificates - but surely you can't search the census by address?

Indeed you can! At 1837online you can search either the 1861 or 1891 Census by address, and you can search the 1901 Census at 1901censusonline. You can even search the 1881 Census at Ancestry.co.uk, by entering the street name in the 'Keywords' box.

It's often possible to find addresses on other censuses too. Let's assume that you've found a family in the 1861 Census, but can't find them in 1851, though you know they were living at the same address.

All you need to do is make a note of who your relatives' neighbours were in 1861, then search for those neighbours on the 1851 Census. Hopefully one of them will prove to have been living in the same street in both censuses.

TIP #5 - Search by occupation

If the relative you're seeking had an occupation other than 'Ag lab' or 'labourer' there's a good chance you'll be able to find him by searching on first name and occupation alone.

The censuses that you can search by occupation are the ones listed in Tip #4 above. Remember that some occupations can be described in more than one way, and that your relative may have started as an apprentice, or assistant.

TIP #6 - Search by birthplace

Searching by first name, birthplace, and age is a great way to find not only relatives whose surname is shown incorrectly, but also female relatives who have married.

You can search all of the censuses from 1851-1901 by birthplace. Please note, however, that the 1881 Census at FamilySearch can only be searched by county (or country) - Ancestry.co.uk is a better option unless you have the LDS CD ROM set.

TIP #7 - Search by relationship

Isn't it frustrating when one of the members of the family wasn't at home on census night? It's particularly difficult because the information for people living in institutions or boarding houses tends to be less accurate.

One way of focusing in on the right people is to specify the relationship to the head of household. In an institution this might be Inmate (workhouse), Patient (hospital) or Prisoner (gaol). In other situations it might be Visitor, Boarder, or Lodger.

A young female relative may be found as Servant, a male relative as Apprentice. Children may appear as Niece, Nephew, Granddaughter, Grandson or Grandchild - or with older married siblings as Brother or Sister (or Brother-in-law or Sister-in-law).

You can search any of the censuses from 1851-1901 by relationship (with exception of the 1881 Census at FamilySearch).